Politico says it will "vigorously defend our First Amendment rights against any attempt to restrict them"
PoliticoNews organization, in a statement posted by its press account POLITICOPress
In a statement posted by its press account, Politico said it will keep reporting fairly on this and future White Houses, will vigorously defend its First Amendment rights against any attempt to restrict them, and that claims it received government subsidies are false and have been thoroughly debunked.
“POLITICO will continue to fairly report on this White House and future ones. We will vigorously defend our First Amendment rights against any attempt to restrict them. The claims that POLITICO received government subsidies are false and have been thoroughly debunked.”
Original post
Original video
Where this statement fits
Should President Trump bar CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House over their coverage?
On Friday, September 18, 2026, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that, "effective immediately, I am banning" CNN, MS NOW and Politico "from the White House as a result of their constant 'reporting' FAKE NEWS!" About an hour later, in the Oval Office, he said no particular story prompted the decision, that he does not want the outlets "in my office," and that "somebody has a right to keep them away" if outlets write false stories. The three outlets and press-freedom groups oppose the exclusion, citing constitutional protection for the press, and the White House Correspondents' Association said it "stands in defense of our colleagues at CNN, MSNOW, and POLITICO." On Saturday, September 19, MS NOW, CNN and Politico said their White House reporters were refused entry and had press passes confiscated; the White House referred questions to Trump's earlier remarks. The dispute is over whether President Trump should exclude named news organizations from White House access over what they report.
Source and context
Original post
About this source
Politico's communications account; an outlet-published source for Politico's Friday statement. The post quote-posts Politico's own breaking-news alert, whose link points to politico.com.
Original video
About this source
Official White House video of the President's health-care event in the Oval Office on September 18, 2026, which began at about 3:38 PM EDT and ran 56 minutes. The quoted wording is our transcription of the video audio.
President Trump speaks about Politico at the Sept. 18, 2026 White House healthcare announcement.
Excerpt from 55:00 to 55:27 of the White House video. DI added its logo in the corner.
Video: The White House. Public domain (U.S. government work) (opens in a new tab)
Watch the full original video (opens in a new tab) (relevant passage: 55:03-55:24 of the White House video (Trump on Politico and the subscription))
Before the quotation
Politico's statement was posted at 5:27 PM EDT on September 18, after Trump's post described Politico as the recipient of an $8 million government subscription.
After the quotation
Trump repeated the subscription claim in the Oval Office, calling Politico "very bad" and saying it accepted "the world's largest subscription".
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Politico commits to contest any attempt to restrict its access and rebuts the subsidy claim Trump used to justify including it. The closest competing label is “Challenged the characterization”, because one of the three sentences disputes the subsidy claim. That loses because the statement's main commitment is to resist restrictions on its constitutional rights, which rejects the exclusion.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- Donald Trump
More from this case
Read the full caseBoutrous distinguishes pool-size limits from retaliation for reporting
“It’s retaliation for speech. That violates the First Amendment.”Read statement
White House says no journalist has a right to Oval Office or Air Force One access
The White House
“No person and no journalist has a constitutional right to access to the President's Oval Office, Air Force One, or other sensitive and private facilities.”Read statement
Schiff says White House press exclusions also harm the public
“When a reporter is denied access to the White House, it isn't just that news organization that suffers. The American people rely on a free press to know what their government is up to, and whether it is acting wisely and lawfully.”Read statement
Share or embed this statement
The embed keeps its attribution link to The Dispute Index. Credit the image to The Dispute Index and link to the statement page.
Cite this record
- Publisher
- The Dispute Index
- Title
- Politico says it will "vigorously defend our First Amendment rights against any attempt to restrict them"
- First published
- Last updated
- Permalink
- https://disputeindex.com/events/1143-in-a-statement-posted-by-its-press-account
Last updated marks the most recent saved version of this published statement.
The Dispute Index. "Politico says it will "vigorously defend our First Amendment rights against any attempt to restrict them"". First published: 2026-09-19. Last updated: 2026-09-22. https://disputeindex.com/events/1143-in-a-statement-posted-by-its-press-account